Broadwater High School May Field Baseball Team in 2025
 | Author:
Linda Kent, MT43 News Staff Reporter
MT43 News Correspondent |
Linda Kent
MT43 News Staff Reporter
Townsend Schools Board of Trustees gave conditional approval to adding boys baseball as a high school sport during the board’s March 12 meeting in a 3-2 vote.
The caveat?
Supporters must raise $20,000 toward start-up costs for the program by July 31.
If the funding goal is met, trustees will contribute an additional $10,000 for the first year, continuing the program beyond 2025 if it proves both popular and successful.
Trustees and administration agreed that the request to add the program comes at a time when the district is already facing tight budgets, with tighter financial circumstances expected as federal money related to COVID relief is no longer available.
When asked by board member Vanessa Flynn whether next year’s budget could absorb the $10,000 commitment, Superintendent Susie Hedalen replied, “It would require some shuffling. It depends on [certified and classified staff] contract negotiations. Something else might have to give.”
“I don’t want to commit to something we can’t cover,” Flynn said.
Board Vice Chair Chase Ragen, who made the initial and amended motions to add the sport, emphasized that adding baseball would provide another avenue for students to engage in school. He noted that it was not likely to draw students already participating in a spring sport, based on a student interest survey.
Like the remainder of the board, however, he expressed concerns about the financial sustainability of the program. “The concern for me is 2026 and on-going,” he said. Later he added, “We’re going to face some tough, tough decisions.”
Long-term financial concerns were underscored in the board’s adoption of an amendment to the initial motion, requiring start-up funds be raised by the group spearheading the request to add the support. In the end, trustees Flynn, Ragen, and Jason Kool voted to add the program, with Board Chair Jason Noyes and Daniel Truesdell voting against.
“I’m forever going to be known as the guy who hates baseball,” Noyes said. He emphasized that as a board member, he sees his role as focusing on academic achievement. Broadwater High School students have a broad offering of extra-curricular activities currently, Noyes stated. “And we certainly can’t keep adding things to an already strained budget.”
Speaking in a separate interview, long-time Townsend Youth Baseball coach and leader Gary Bauman said, as the point person for community members supporting the sport’s addition, he’s confident the group can meet the $20,000 goal by the deadline. The group is already forming a steering committee and has a relationship in place with a 501(c)3 non-profit which will receive start-up funds (see sidebar for more information).
Start-up costs include uniforms and equipment, among other items. However, fundraising to meet the costs of offering the program is only an option for one year under Montana High School Association (MHSA) rules.
Bauman said the plan would be for games to be played at McCarthy Field, with practices to be held at a to-be-determined location.
Part of Bauman’s confidence that his group will meet their financial goal stems from the number of Townsend-area kids already participating in the youth baseball program, which has 184 participants this year. Those numbers have grown consistently year over year, from 122 participants in 2021 to 141 last year.
By comparison, Manhattan, a larger community and school, has 84 youth baseball participants this year.
The Babe Ruth league team Bauman coaches for the local organization will have about 12 boys ages 13-15 this year. Bauman added that a meeting for current high school students interested in playing next year netted around 24 students. Over the age of 15, boys have limited options to continue playing baseball in the region. The primary option, the Gallatin Valley Outlaws American Legion team in Three Forks, costs $2,700 for boys to participate, Bauman said.
This spring is the second high school baseball season since MHSA approved the sport. Currently, teams are split into four divisions with no distinctions for school size. Townsend would likely compete in MHSA’s Eastern Division for the support, playing against teams from Belgrade, East Helena, Lone Peak, and Columbus, among the six teams currently in the division. With several Class AA schools planning to add the sport next year, MHSA may separate the largest schools into their own competitive division. That determination will be made at a later date.
